Players slam Friday night Carlow v Laois game

Frank Roche
– 18 June 2013 02:30 PM

SOME of the combatants in the GAA's first weekday championship match have slammed the move by the Central Competitions Control Committee to use the Carlow v Laois All-Ireland SFC qualifier as a guinea pig for Friday night football.

Carlow captain Brian Murphy and Laois pair Peter O'Leary and Michael John Tierney have savagely criticised the GAA's decision to host the match in Dr Cullen Park on Friday week at 7.45, a move which appears to have been done without the consultation of the players.

O'Leary took to Twitter to brand the decision makers "a shower of clowns," while Tierney branded the call "absolutely ridiculous," adding that the GAA had "no regard for either set of players. What about lads that work in Dublin?"

Murphy, meanwhile, called it "a joke . . . It's absolutely disgraceful, it wouldn't have happened in any of the big counties," adding that as his typical working day doesn't end until around six o'clock, he would need to take a "day off or time off" to prepare properly for the match.

However, Laois manager Justin McNulty branded the move a "fantastic idea" while both of the county boards involved have come out heavily in favour.

TYRONE goalkeeper Niall Morgan has been ruled out for the rest of the Championship after suffering a knee ligament injury while playing for his club Edendork.